Cupola charger



26,;1943- J. RICHARDSON CUPOLA CHARGER Fild Jan. 15, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 f INVENTOR. BY )2 4 ATTORNEYS.

Patented Oct. 26, 1943 UNITED STATES, PATENT OFFICE CUPOLA CHARGER Jolm Richardson, Port Washington, Wis., assignor to Modern Equipment Company, Port Washington, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application January 15, 1942, Serial No. 426,834

6 Claims. (,Cl. 214-19) This invention relates to improvements in cupola chargers, and more particularly to an improved charging bucket construction.

In foundries it is common practice to utilize buckets having vertically movable bell-shaped bottoms for the purpose. of delivering a charge of pig iron, coke and lime into a cupola. These buckets are commonly moved into the door or receiving opening ofthe cupola by means of a skip carriage or by a movable beam, there being mechanism in connection with each type of transporting device for moving the bucket into discharge position and for then permitting the weight of the material on the bottom of the bucket to open the movable bottom. With the belltype of bottom all of the charge must fall outwardly of the periphery ofl the bell-shaped bottom, with the result that the charge is deposited in an uneven manner in the cupola, there being relatively little material deposited directly below the bottom of the bucket and the majority of the charge being concentrated adjacent the cupola lining. .-Furthermore, due to this method of discharge there must be substantial clearance between the periphery of the bell bottom and the sides of the cupola lining, otherwise there is insuflicient room for the charge to fall downwardly. Thus buckets having bell bottoms are particularly. undesirable when used with cupolas of small diameter wherein there is insufficient cross-sectional area to provide enough clearance around the bucket bottom. As a re-.- sult it has been common with small cupolas to use a tiltable carriage for dumping the charge into the cupola. This is also objectionable because when the carriage is loaded the coke is usually in a layer on the bottom and the pig iron in a layer on the top. Thus when the bucket is tilted for discharge into. the cupola the top layer of material is all deposited on the far side and the bottom layer of coke on .the near side. This presents a poor condition for efficient cupola operation. It is, therefore, an object of the present for automatically releasing the bucket bottom following its entrance into the cupola, and for automatically closing said bottom when, the bucket is in a position to be re-loaded.

A further object of the invention is to provide a cupola charger including a carriage, a bucket swingably supported by said carriage, and means on the carriage cooperable with the bucket bottom to partially close the same as the carriage is returning to the loading pit.

A further object of the invention is to provide in a charger bucket having a swingable bottom, a single pivot for the swinging movement so located and interconnected to the bottom as to cause the bottom to hang, when open, in a position where it interferes in no way with the discharge from the bucket, the bottom however being disposed at an angle short of vertical to facilitate closing action.

A further object of the invention .is to provide a construction as above described wherein the open bucket bottom serves as a shield to prevent the released charge from falling externally of the cupola.

A still further object of the invention is to provide in combination a cupola having a side charging opening and a bucket adapted to enter said opening and having a hinged bottom swing able toward the opening to release the charge of material, the cupola opening being of a length to accommodate the bucket bottom when the latter is suspended in open position. Thus a relatively large bucket having a diameter which closely approaches the inner diameter of the cupola may be effectively employed.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists of the improved cupola charger and all its parts and combinations as set forth in the claims, and all equivalents thereof.

Inthe accompanying drawings illustrating one complete embodiment of the preferred form of the invention, in which the same reference numerals designate the same parts in all of the views:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the improved apparatus, the loading pit and part of the cupola and framework being shown in vertical longitudinal section; 3

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side view on an enlarged scale showing the bucket entering the cupola opening, the cupola opening being illustrated in vertical section, the dot-and-dashlines indicating the position of the parts just after the bucket bottom has been automatically released;

portion is provided with a refractory lining-9.

The lower portion of the cupola has a somewhat thicker lining I0, the upper end of which is covered by a flaring rim I l. Directly opposite the front opening 8 the rear wall of thecupola is provided with a pin l2 which projects inwardly of the cupola beyond the inner surface of the lining 9. a r

A carriage i3 is movable between the charging opening 8 of the cupola and a loading pit hi on be forked at its upper end to engage on both sides of the hinge member 38. By utilizing the relatively long hinge arm 31 to effect a pivotal falls straight downwardly from the bucket. This A is in direct contrast to the manner in which the tracks [5. The tracks comprise spaced channels opening toward each other, and said tracks have their lower ends l6 extending substantially straight upwardly from the loading pit, and a central portion which continues upwardly at an angle toward the cupola as at H, and have an upper end portion which bends inwardly toward the cupola as'at I8. i

The tracks are supported by'suitable framework lfi, 20, 2|, and 22, and at the upper end of the framework 22 is a rotatably'mounted pulley 23 over which the carriage operating cable 24 passes. One end of the cable 24 is connected to the carriage [3, as shown in Fig. 1, and the other end is windable on a power operated drum 25. When the drum isoperated in a direction to unwind the cable'it is apparent that the carriage l3 will move by gravity from the full line position of Fig. 1 to the dotted line position within the loading pit Hi. It is also apparent that when the cable iswound up on the drum 25 that the car riage l3-is moved back to the full line charging position. 1

Referring to Figs. 2 and 3, the-carriage i3 comprises side rails 26 connected by cross braces Z'l and 28. The side rails 25 are equipped with rear wheels 29 and front wheels 30. One or both sets of the wheels may be mounted on movable bearings, or these wheels may be. mounted in any other manner to permit the carriage to travel around the curves of the tracks without binding. The flanges 31 of the wheels preferably engage-in grooves 32 formed on the lower flange of each channel, as shown in Fig. 3.

A charging bucket 33 has trunnions 34 projecting from opposite sides thereof which are journalled in bearings formed on the outer ends of the carriage side rails 26, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. The bucket is therefore swingably supported on the carriage, and, due to its weight and the position of the trunnions, normally assumes a vertical position regardless of the'position of the carriage. The bucket is provided with a bottom member 35 which is hinged as at 36 for swinging movement from the full line position of Fig. 2 to the full line position of Fig. 1. -The hinged action is accomplished through the medium of a hinge arm 31 which projects upwardly from the periphery of the movable bottom 3-5 and which is hingedly connected by-the pivot 38 to a hinge member 33 which projects outwardly from the bucket a substantial distance above the bottom thereof. The hinge arm 37' may comprise spaced members engaging on each side of the bucket hinge member at, or the arm 31 mayv charge'falls from a bell bottom bucket wherein said bell bottom when open lies directly in the path of the falling material. If the bucket bottom 35 'where hinged directly to the lower edge of the bucket, then the bucket bottom when open would hang straight downwardly in a vertical position and there might be difficulty in effecting automatic re-closing of the bucket. With the present invention, however. the bottom 35 hangs at anangle short of vertical. as shown in Fig. 1, so that when the bucket approaches the bottom of the pit, engagement of the lower hanging edge 39 with the bottom of the pit will effectively cause closing movement.

The bucket bottom 35 is preferably formed with a rim 4&1 which projects beyond the exterior of the bucket. Thus the lower end of the hinge arm 3? may be conveniently connected to this rim. Furthermore, theopposite portion of the rim may be formed with a latching contour, as at 4| (Fig. .4), for cooperation with the latch member 42 formed on the lower end of a lever 53. The lever 43 is pivoted to the forward side of the bucket as at 3, and has an operating end. 45. When the bucket is being inserted into the cupola, the latching portions 4i and normally cooperate to maintain the bottom in the closed full line position of. Fig. 2. However, when the bucket is pushed all the way in, then the operating end 45 of thelever 43 engages the pin l2, as shown .by the dot-and-dash line position of Fig. 2, to release the latch and cause the bucket bottom to swing to the open position of Fig. 1, This allows the charge within the. bucket to fall straight downwardly into the cupola. It is to be noted that .when the bucket bottom 35 is in the open position ofFig. 1 it forms a shield in the cupola opening to prevent the charge from falling externally of the cupola. It is also to be noted that the cupola. opening 8 isof sufiicient height to accommodate the cover 35 when it is in open position. Thus thediameter of the bucket may be made very close to the inner diameter of the lining H] of the cupola- After the contents of the bucket has been discharged into the cupola, the drum 25 is operated to lower the carriage and bucket on the tracks ll. During such lowering movementas the-carriage passes intothe track section I! the bucket tends to-- swing toa position more nearly parallel to the carriage During such swinging movement the bucket bottom engages the crossrod 21, as shown in Fig. 4, so that the bottom is partially closed during the'downward travel of the carriage; then when-the bucket finally rests on the bottomof the pit l4, asshown in Fig. 1, engagement of the bucket bottom with the bottom of the pit completes the closi'iig' and causes the latch portion 41 to snap into-engagement with the cooperating latch 42" ori the lever 43, as

shown in dotted lines in Fig. 'l'.

For certain charging methods this type of bucket may be supported in a different manner than on the carriage I3, and it may not always be possible to have a cross member 21 on the carriage for partially closing the bucket bottom. In such cases, however, due to the fact that the bucket bottom is supported on the relatively long hinge arm 31 so that it does not hang in a straight vertical position, the engagement with the bottom of the pit alone will serve to efiect closing of the bucket bottom.

Before the carriage and bucket are returned to the cupola the bucket is re-loaded by any type of loading equipment, such as the hopper 46 having a swingable bottom 4'! for directing material into the bucket, while the latter is in the loading pit. Coke and other materials may be inserted in the hopper 46 in any desired manner, and the pig iron may be conveyed to the hopper by an electromagnet 48 suspended from an overhead crane structure 49.

It is obvious that the improved charging bucket may be conveyed to the cupola by means other than the carriage and track, such as by a monorail conveyor. Various other changes and adaptations may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, and all of such alterna-- tives are contemplated as may come within the scope of the claims.

What I claim is:

1. In combination, a cupola having a side opening, a bucket loading station, a charging bucket, a carriage swingably supporting said bucket to move the latter to and from the cupola and loading station, a releasable bottom for said bucket, means for opening said bottom when the bucket is positioned in the cupola, means including a member on the carriage positioned to engage the bucket bottom to partially close the latter as the carriage is returning to the loading station, and means for completely closing the bucket bottom when the bucket ispositioned in the loading station.

2. In combination, a cupola having a side open ing, a bucket loading station, a charging bucket, a carriage swingably supporting said bucket to move the latter to and from the cupola and loading station, a hinged bottom for said bucket, a track for said carriage having its main portion extending upwardly and having its upper end extending laterally toward the cupola, means for opening said bucket bottom when the bucket is positioned in the cupola, means in the carriage cooperable with the bucket bottom to swing the same to partially closed position as the bucket swings relative to the carriage during movement of the carriage downwardly on the main track portion toward the loading station, and means for completely closing the bucket bottom when the bucket is positioned in the loading station.

3. In combination, a cupola having a side opening, a bucket loading station, a charging bucket, a carriage swingably supporting said bucket to move the latter to and from the cupola and loading station, a hinged bottom for said bucket, a track for said carriage having its main portion extending upwardly and having its upper end extending laterally toward the cupola, means in the carriage cooperable with the bucket bottom to swing the same toward closed position as the bucket swings relative to the carriage during movement of the carriage downwardly on the main track portion toward the loading station.

4. In combination, a cupola having a side opening, a bucket loading station, a charging bucket, a carriage swingably supporting said bucket to move the latter to and from the cupola and loading station, a hinged bottom for said bucket, a

track for said carriage having its main portion extending upwardly and having its upper end extending laterally toward the cupola, a transverse rod in the carriage cooperable with the bucket bottom to swing the same toward closed position as the bucket swings relative to the carriage during movement of the carriage downwardly on the main track portion toward the loading station.

5. In combination, a cupola having a vertical charge receiving chamber and having a side wall opening communicating with said vertical chamber, a charging bucket having a bottom opening with a cross-sectional area which is substantially equal to the cross-sectional area of the vertical chamber of the cupola, means for moving said bucket transversely of the cupola into said side wall opening, a single closure for the entire bottom opening of said bucket, a hinge connecting said closure to the side wall portion of the bucket which last enters the cupola, said hinge being offset upwardly on said bucket wall portion so that when the bucket is in the cupola and when the closure is open the hingedly connected edge of the closure is supported laterally away from the side of the bucket with the opposite edge of the closure hanging in substantial vertical aline ment with the wall .of the vertical chamber of the cupola and just above the lower edge of the cupola side wall opening to allow a column of material substantially equal to the full cross-sectional area of the bucket and to the cross-sectional area of the vertical chamber of the cupola to fall straight downwardly from the bucket without obstruction into said Vertical chamber, and means actuated in response to movement of the bucket into the cupola for automatically opening said closure when the axis of the bucket is in alinement with the vertical axis of the vertical chamber of the cupola.

6. In combination, a cupola having a vertical charge receiving chamber and having a side wall opening communicating with said vertical chamber, a charging bucket having a bottom opening With a cross-sectional area which is substantially equal to the cross-sectional area .of the vertical chamber of the cupola, means for moving said bucket transversely of the cupola into said side wall opening, a single closure for the entire bottom opening of said bucket, a hinge connecting said closure to the side wall portion of the bucket which last enters the cupola, said hinge being offset upwardly on said bucket Wall portion so that when the bucket is in the cupola and when the closure is open the hingedly connected edge of the closure is supported laterally away from the side of the bucket with the opposite edge of the closure hanging in substantial vertical alinement with the wall of the vertical chamber of the cupola and just above the lower edge of the cupola side Wall opening to allow a column of material substantially equal to the full crosssectional area of the bucket and to the crosssectional area of the vertical chamber of the cupola to fall straight downwardly from the bucket without obstruction into said vertical chamber, and a latch connected to a side wall of the bucket and actuated in response to movement of the bucket into the cupola for automatically opening said bucket closure when the vertical axis of the bucket is in alinement with the vertical axis of the vertical chamber of the cupola, a side wall portion of the cupola being of reduced thickness to accommodate said latch.

JOHN RICHARDSON. 

